Parents oppose sex-education

A survey carried out by the BabyChild website has found that over half of parents do not agree with sex-education for children being taught at school "from a young age".

The results of the survey, which took the opinions of 1,700 parents of 5-11 year-olds, showed that 59% did not think it was a good idea.

The commonest response given as a reason why the parents did not agree with sex education for younger children was that it was "inappropriate to teach children about sex".

The results of the survey follow the Sex Education Bill, which just passed its first reading in parliament.

The Bill intends to make it compulsory for schools to provide girls aged 13-16 with sex education lessons to give them "information and advice on the benefits of abstinence".

It went through its first reading with 67 votes to 61, although if it is to become legally binding it would need to be supported by the government.

The survey asked parents if they were in agreement "with the fact that sex-education is often taught to children in schools, even from a young age".

A total of 59% of respondents said they were not, 18% said they were, and 23% said they did not mind one way or the other.

Of the respondents who were not in favour, 41% said "it is inappropriate to teach children about sex", while 28% thought "it should be the parent's choice to teach their own child," 27% believed "there is no need for children to know about sex" and 22% thought "the lessons may encourage children to ask more about sexuality and sex".

Most parents (48%) thought 13 or older was the best age for children to start having sex education lessons.